So let’s reign it in a bit here.
This summer has been wild. Lacking lots of structure and healthy habits including working out. Aside from while in Montana, I don’t think I’ve put on a pair of gym shoes is almost two months. Sad, but with moving and sports and kids there just hasn’t been the time. Not making excuses here….and hello, I did move so that took care of a pretty good chunk of physical labor but still. It’s time to make some serious adjustments.
And it’s not only for me. If the kids go up to the snack shop one more time at the pool (it’s free mom!) I’m going to scream. The husband could use a little boost as well. Ahem. We all could. And with my sisters wedding right around the corner there is no time like the present to implement some healthy changes.
So, I’ve been researching gluten lately. I know, I KNOW. Don’t worry – you aren’t going to lose me to the gluten craze. I could never. BUT I don’t think gluten filled carbs are needed at every single meal which is generally what happens around here. (Ok, actually I do think carbs are needed at every meal but, whatever man.)
In my defense, our day to day meal to meal carbs are normally the healthy good for you carbs but still. When you boil it down it’s a lot of gluten. And I’m an all about balance kind of a gal. Plus, I take medicine daily for an auto immune disease (thyroid) as does my husband. So much of that is connected to diet and, truth be told, I haven’t been feeling completely myself and that in love with how my medicine I have to take makes me feel the past year so this can’t hurt, right?
Right.
I started browsing on Instagram. You know, those healthy beautiful glowing girls in their perfect kitchen holding up their paleo cookbooks? Yeah, I’ll eat what she’s eating, please.
And so I did.
I found Cassy Joy Garcia who is darling and began to look over her recipes. Some I could never attempt in this home, but some looked totally acceptable. Even….family friendly.
Take this chicken taco casserole.
M had been craving Mexican, ok….good start. There was no dairy, no carbs, and to get the yummy creamy consistency of a casserole she uses full fat coconut milk. OMG, can I actually attempt this with M? He’s going to see right through this. Coconut milk????
So with L at football and B at a swim lesson and M at the gym (heck yeah) I went to work in the kitchen for my active boys. Layering it all perfectly. Hoping no one would notice it wasn’t totally greasy and cheesy like Mexican food typically is. And highlighting it all with a typical crowd pleaser: homemade guacamole.
The verdict?
Gobbled. It. Up.
M was completely clueless, completely. No one had any idea they were eating cauliflower instead of rice. No one asked where the cheese was. They did cheat a bit with some tortilla chips but those are gluten free so I’m still chalking this whole thing up to a huge massive gigantic win.
Anyone willing to give it a shot? Trust me, it tasted awesome. And if you want to go a hair less extreme, switch up the cauliflower rice for brown rice. Still very very healthy and oh so delicious.
Good luck….!
- 4 cups jasmine, brown rice, or basic cauliflower rice, cooked
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 4 cups shredded chicken (I bought a rotisserie one)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- pepper to taste
- 2 cups fresh salsa, any kind you'd like
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 cups fresh pico, for final topping
- guacamole and cilantro for topping
- Preheat your oven to 375.
- Mix the rice with the lime juice and chopped cilantro. Spread the seasoned rice evenly into the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish.
- Mix the shredded chicken with the chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper. Spread the seasoned shredded chicken evenly over the rice in the baking dish.
- In a bowl, whisk together the salsa and coconut milk. Pour this mixture over the chicken and rice in the baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or so.
- Before serving, spread the fresh pico evenly over the casserole. Top individual plates with guacamole and cilantro.
- *Link for cauliflower rice: http://fedandfit.com/2014/08/20/basic-cauliflower-rice/
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Courtney
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Twitter: charminglyuncmp
says:
Literally flying out to get the coconut milk to make this tonight. We (translation: I) started Whole30 last week for a much needed back to work/back to school/back to normal kickstart and this looks absolutely PERFECT. Even I was getting sick of ‘normal’ grilled chicken!
Omg love this! I so so hope you guys enjoy – are you doing brown rice or cauliflower? Let me know how it goes. Hope you guys enjoy as much as we did 🙂
Twitter: charminglyuncmp
says:
It was SO good! I have to admit I was a bit skeptical when I was mixing the coconut milk and salsa but was very pleasantly surprised by the final dish. S ate two huge helpings too and was psyched to hear it was so healthy. I used cauliflower rice which I’ve been dying to try anyway – two bags of the Trader Joe’s precut (fresh, not frozen) was the perfect amount. Thanks for such a great find!
This looks delicious! I’ve really missed going out for Mexican food since switching to a low carb diet, I will have to try this with the cauliflower rice.
Helen recently posted…Cauliflower Rice Experiments, part 2
Thank you Helen – I so hope you enjoy!
Twitter: charminglyuncmp
says:
I have been meaning to comment on this for a week now … I just wanted to let you know that I recently cooked for two different family friends who are on strict diets due to chemo and this was the *perfect* comfort food meal to make that accommodated their dairy free/gluten free/healthy needs. Thank you as always for the inspiration!
OH this makes my day. Thank you so much for letting me know!